Company
by Lil-Samuu
Summary: Post game one shot. Sheena has some visitors when the weather turns cold.


Post-game oneshot featuring Sheena, Colette and Lloyd. Fluffy pointless nonsense as usual. Inspired by the fact that the weather's really cold here right now.

(A kotatsu is a table with some form of heater underneath and a blanket placed over it to keep the warmth in.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia, I believe that it belongs to Namco.

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Sheena smiled at the couple curled up together with a large, warm blanket wrapped around them beside her. Colette was watching the snow that was gently falling with a look of pure delight on her face as Lloyd smiled down at her, his eyes showing clearly his emotions at that moment, love, contentment and pleasure that the little angel snuggled up to him was so happy. 

Sheena was glad to know that her friends were safe and warm. When the weather had started to become cold she had wondered about them, hoping that they'd find themselves an inn to stay in while the worst of the weather passed. When she didn't get a letter from them she'd begun to worry, they often sent messages to Mizuho when staying in a town for quite a while.

Then one day someone had knocked on her door and she had wondered who it was in the village that had been foolish enough to go outside in the heavy rain that had been falling for most of the day. When she'd opened the door and had seen not a villager but her two friends and their arshis companion, shivering despite the heavy layers of clothes and cloaks they were wrapped up in, she had not been able to believe her eyes. They had asked, politely in Mizuhoan, if they could come in and she had quickly stepped aside, slamming the door shut as soon as they were inside to keep the cold out.

She had insisted that they had a bath to warm up and while they had soaked in the warm water she had cooked a stew and put some of their clothes by the fire so that they would be warm for them. She smiled as she remembered Colette's delight when, when the little angel had shouted out from behind the bathroom door for some dry clothes, she had passed her the warm garments. Such simple things made the little blonde happy.

Sheena grinned playfully then gently pulled on one of the segments of Colette's wings which she'd unfurled after being settled watching the snow for a while, a sign that she was relaxed and happy. The angel jumped, surprised, then turned to face the summoner.

"Remind me again why you were out in that horrible weather?" Sheena asked, shaking her head slightly.

"We told you, when we noticed the weather was getting bad we thought that Mizuho would be the easiest place to get to from where we were, but then we managed to get lost," Colette blushed, closing her eyes and scratching the back of her neck in a gesture that she'd picked up from Lloyd, causing Sheena to smile.

"I still can't believe you managed to get lost like that. I bet you were closer to another town but you just wanted to be here so you'd be able to snuggle up by the kotatsu," Sheena nodded at the table with a blanket around it and a heater underneath it. Colette frowned.

"No, wait, it's you two, I can believe you did actually get lost," the summoner laughed.

"Heeeeeeey," Lloyd whined.

"Well it's true, you're both useless with maps," Sheena sighed, shaking her head. "Although I am glad that you're here, it's been fun, for the whole of the village."

After their bath the couple had settled by the kotatsu, eaten the stew that Sheena had cooked for them, talked for a little while to explain what they were doing wandering around in such bad weather and then had snuggled together in the guest room Sheena had offered them and had fallen into an exhausted slumber with Noishe settled at the end of the bed. The next morning Sheena had left breakfast beside their bed and then had left to carry out some of her duties around the village. When she had returned in the evening her friends looked much better, well rested, and she had found that they'd done some chores around the house and had prepared dinner.

The summoner had insisted that they should stay until the bad weather had passed. At first they had protested, saying that they didn't want to be a bother, but she had convinced them to stay, saying that she'd worry about them being out in such cold rain and horrible winds and that she didn't mind having a couple of housewives around. That comment had earned her a couple of pretend glares, a gentle punch on the arm and amused chuckles.

The next morning she'd had the idea that it might be interesting for them to go into the village's small school to talk to the students. The teacher had agreed that it was a good idea and the couple had spent a day talking about the various journeys they'd been on and stories that they had picked up while travelling. Sheena had returned to the school several times that day to check that they were OK and each time found the whole class, including the teacher, paying attention to the couple who had settled themselves comfortably on top of one of the large desks. She had to admit they had a talent for telling stories, the atmosphere in the room had been something like one around a campfire when stories were being told, so much so she could just imagine a warm fire in front of them, a pile of marshmallows ready to toast over it when they got hungry.

Occasionally they had gotten up from the desk to emphasise things they were talking about and Sheena had had to laugh when she had walked into the classroom just as Colette was stomping about around the desk pretending to be one of the monsters the sailors on the boats they had travelled on had talked about. She had been waving her arms around frantically, trying to make it seem as though she had many, and had been roaring what the summoner assumed was supposed to be a fearsome roar that wasn't really that scary. When Noishe had started howling from his spot beside the desk to add to the noise the effect was so comical that the whole class had started to giggle.

The next day the couple had gone along to the school to listen to some of the lessons being taught there and had become interested in a particular dance the teacher had discussed. Sheena had found someone in the village who was willing to teach them about it and they had spent many hours learning and practicing the dance. Sheena smiled as she looked over at the costume that was neatly placed in the corner of the room, one that, when worn by two dancers, resembled one large creature. At first Noishe had seemed a little afraid of the costume but now he was used to it he seemed to think it was quite funny when the couple wore it. Sheena was glad that they had become interested in learning about that dance, it had given them another reason to stay in the village until the bad weather ended.

"Are you sure we're not being a bother staying here?" Colette asked, getting Sheena's attention which had wandered as she had been thinking about the previous week's events.

"Don't you dare think about leaving with the weather like that! I'm not going to let you go out and freeze again, do you know how scary it is to open the door to two icicles? OK, admittedly they were very polite icicles but still, not good. Besides, I don't think Noishe's going to let you go anywhere for a while," Sheena smiled and nodded at the arshis who was snuggled beside the kotatsu.

"As long as you're sure…" Colette said quietly.

"Yes, you'd be more bother if you were out in the snow because I'd be worried about you getting lost and cold," the summoner reassured her.

"Thank you," Colette smiled then snuggled closer to Lloyd, resting her head against his chest and making a soft, contented little humming sound.

It really was nice, Sheena thought, to have her friends here while the weather was bad. Somehow the weather didn't seem quite so horrible and miserable when you had company to pass the time with.


End file.
